13 Monday Mar 2023
Posted in Event Announcements & Updates
Vikingathing is THIS SATURDAY! (March 18, 2023) Please check out the event information here.
We will have merchants!
We will have a Hjolmgang tournament!
We will have classes!
We will have food!
Come and join us for what promises to be a lovely day.
If you have questions or want more information about the event, please contact me, Odriana, at odriana@members.aethelmearc.org
13 Monday Jun 2022
Posted in Event Announcements & Updates
Tags
Greetings! Let it be known throughout our Sylvan Kingdom and beyond that the Barony of St. Swithin’s Bog 3-Day event is again on the horizon!
The Barony of St. Swithin’s Bog would like to invite the Known World to join them for 3 days of martial activities, arts, friendship, and celebration as the Great Pennsic War looms ever closer. Not only will there be an abundance of activities to inspire and excite but it will also be the Investiture of our new Baron and Baroness! A weekend of true festivity and revelry!
This year, all are welcome to a weekend at the Viking Townhall! There will be a full day of Viking themed martial activities including Heavy Weapons, Youth fighting, Rapier, Thrown Weapons, and Archery! There will be an A&S display and Competition for both finished and in-progress work. And Yes! We will once again be hosting the 13th Annual Iron Scribe Competition! And this year I am excited to announce there will also be a Brewing Competition! There are also children’s activities planned for a day of merriment for all!
Our Head Cook is preparing a fine hearty feast and after an exciting day of activities invites all to don your finest Viking garb and join us in the longhouse for an illuminating and enchanting evening of feasting and friendship. We encourage all to bring their banners to hang, and candles and lanterns, to add to the aesthetic of the evening.
Depending on COVID Protocol at the time of the event, the feast and all activities may take place outside. The event will follow all SCA Covid protocols. Please check the event Facebook Page for updates and announcements as the event draws closer.
Our site is the New Germany Grove Hall 1635 New Germany Road, Summerhill, PA15958. Site will open on Friday, July 15th at 5 pm and close on Sunday, July 17th, at 12 noon. There is plenty of space for camping. No shower facilities are available but place feel free to being our own amenities. There will be sanitizing stations throughout the event. The site is discreetly wet and above ground fires are permitted. Adult Event Registration is $25 per adult. Adult Member Discount Event Registration is $20 per adult member. Children ages 17 and under are free. Breakfast and lunch sideboard are included with your event registration.
Our Head Cook is her Excellency Rosheen O Fayh (Tracey Zimmerman) email: tzimmerman125@gmail.com. Dietary/allergy concerns may be sent to her email. Co-Feastocrat is Lord Biorn inn Digri (Chris Fedelia). Feast is $10 per person. Children ages 5 and under are free for feast. The feast is limited to 64, so reservations are highly encouraged.
Our Reservation Clerk will be Lord Battista (Paul Tedeski) email ptedeski@outlook.com. This year Pre-registration will be available online through SCARS and all those who preregister online will receive a $5 discounted registration fee. Please check the event page for information on when pre-registration will open and close. Cash and checks will still be accepted at the gate. Make checks payable to SCA-PA, Inc. Barony of St. Swithin’s Bog. Our Royalty Liaison is Dame Ursula of Rouen (Danielle Duvall, PO Box 661, Shepherdstown, WV. 25443), 540-287-1748 or Ursula.of.rouen@gmail.com.
Questions regarding the event may be directed to the Autocrat, Lady Niamh bean Bran O’Labhradha (Diana Lowry, 3735 Baytree Street. Pittsburgh, PA 15214), 724-550-5352 or dclsw05@gmail.com.
Although the SCA complies with all applicable laws to try and ensure the health and safety of our event participants, we cannot eliminate the risk of exposure to infectious diseases during in person events. By participating in the in-person events of the SCA, you acknowledge and accept the potential risks. You agree to take any additional steps to protect your own health and safety and those under your control as you believe necessary.
Directions available at the event announcement here.
Facebook event is here.
25 Wednesday Dec 2019
By Elska á Fjárfelli, of the Dominion of Myrkfaelinn
Going down the rabbit hole can result in some interesting finds. During my digging into historic brewing techniques, I came across the following story. I thought it offered a nice peek behind the curtains into the life of the modern Viking — what is Christmas without a ghost story — which is why I am sharing it now with you.
Historians believe that the way of life of rural Scandinavians did not significantly change for hundreds of years, if not more, and that many of the traditions and techniques as found in the 19th and early 20th century could even go back as far as Viking times. The following account is called “Christmas preparations and Christmas” and is written by Norwegian Guro Hoftun Narum. The chapter is part of the book Livet i en fjellbygd omkring århundreskiftet (Life in a mountain village around the turn of the century), which was published in 1965.
In the good time before Christmas, the pigs were slaughtered. As a rule, it was the wife of the garden who cooked the cracklings and made pork stew and meat baskets (sausages). In part of the Christmas baking, they used pork dumplings.
One time before Christmas they bought a bunch of lutefisk, which had to lie [soak] in strong ash [potash lye] until it had swelled. New water had to be refreshed until the water was completely shiny and the fish was light and glossy as well.
Then the containers of Christmas beer were prepared. First, they sprout barley grain with some water. The grain grew, sprouted, then became lofty. They had it in a big wooden tray inside the living room, because it was warm. While the grain was growing, they sometimes touched [checked] it, and when it was fit, they dried it in the sauna. From the sauna they put it in the mill and got it roughly ground.
The women brewed beer from the malt. […] The beer fermented a little in the barrel as well, and there was some yeast on the bottom of the barrel. When the beer was drunk, they emptied the yeast into a dish and let it dry out, and when this yeast had dried out, they kept it until they had to make bread dough. Before it came from the cookers [could be purchased], baked fermented bread was preferred only for Christmas.
It’s Christmas Eve I remember best of the days of Christmas. Early Christmas Eve morning, we dragged the children into [listening to] a lot of Christmas [stories] around our kettles. We had the fireplace full and even something beside the fireplace. Most days, father set up one or more Christmas nights.
I can’t remember we had Christmas trees, and we didn’t get gifts outside of new clothes.
The evening meal was the same every Christmas Eve as long as I was a kid, namely lutefisk, a little fried pork and “dipping”, which was thick white sauce of good milk. Mother probably had some cream in it. Furthermore, there were peeled potatoes and beer in coffee mugs. Every day, the potatoes had to be peeled.
At Christmas, the adults talked about Christmas ghosts that came out of Hahaug during Christmas Night and came back on the thirteenth day. Hahaug is a large mound in the garden of Viko. There were many legends about undead (underground) people living in this mound. It was the legend of Christmas Eve, and I will bring you a couple more.
When the undead people in Hahaug were visited by other undergrounders, they held feasts. The music-man sat on top of the mound and played, and the others danced a kind of ring dance around the mound. Some of the people kept burning torches in the room.
Another legend is about a man who rode away to Hahaug on Christmas Eve. He saw a light shine inside the mound. The man greeted and called out Merry Christmas, and then he asked for a Christmas story. “It’s old custom and use here,” he said. Many women and men came out of the mound, and one of them handed the man a silver-plated drinking horn. He accepted the horn, but sprinkled its contents behind him so some of it hit the horse, and the horse was scorched on both hair and skin where the contents hit it. He should not have taken the drinking horn.
21 Saturday Dec 2019
Posted in Arts & Sciences, Esoterica
The Viking origins of our modern Christmas
By Elska á Fjárfelli, of the Dominion of Myrkfaelinn
We’ve all been to a Yule-themed event at some point. And most of us are aware there is some sort of connection between Yule and Christmas. What I was surprised about is how many of our Christmas traditions hail back to Dark Age customs! All the way back to its roots, Yule is a mid-winter festival celebrated by the Germanic people. The winter and summer equinoxes, as well as the autumnal and spring equinoxes, played important roles in many pre-Christian cultures. The celebrations were a way of marking time, as well as a way to honor the ancestors and the gods. And at first, the time of yule, called Yule-tide, lasted somewhere around two months between mid-November and early January.
One of the most recognized solstice monuments, the Neolithic Stonehenge and its partner Woodhenge, are physical remnants of such time-marking celebrations. The wood circle was oriented towards the setting sun on the midwinter solstice, opposite to the stone circle, which was oriented towards the midsummer solstice, and both are linked to each other by a processional route. It is speculated that woodhenge, which had no evidence of human burials but plenty evidence of copious feasts, represented a “land of the living” while Stonehenge, with evidence of human burials and built of ever-lasting rock, represented a “land of the dead.” While Stonehenge and Woodhenge are quite unique, structures to mark the solstices have been found throughout the ages and in many cultures, including in Scandinavia. Not all that surprising: Scandinavian winter days are rather short and winter nights very, very long, making winter solstice celebrations seem like rather a good idea!
Illustration by Deep Friar, December 23rd, 2009.
Viking Age Scandinavian festivals included many different rituals and celebrations, many of which are still around today. For instance, the Vikings has festivals resembling our Halloween – well, more like the Mexican Day of the Dead or the Irish Samhain than our modern Trick-or-Treat kid’s Valhalla, but you get the gist. Viking Halloween consisted of Alfablot, a private celebration for the family’s ancestors and the family’s life force, and the public feast Disablot. The Disablot festival happened during the “three days prior to winter” and is believed to have been held to wish for prosperity for the upcoming season. The Vikings also celebrated a festival known as Yule. Many customs of the Yuletide tradition are quite similar to our Christmas.
And this is not a coincidence, as many of the customs and traditions celebrated under the umbrella of modern Christmas in fact originated from the Yule celebrations of the Vikings. To make it easier to convert pagans, the church declared the Birth of Christ to have taken place during the Roman holiday of Saturnalia, to help smoothen the transition to Christianity. As the holiday or Saturnalia coincided with the winter solstice, this also happened to be the time the people of Scandinavia celebrated Yule. The winter solstice marked the longest day of the year and the slow returning to light and the winter solstice celebration lasted for twelve days. The Christian Christmas celebrates mankind’s movement from darkness into the light, and the twelve days of solstice celebration became the twelve days of Christmas.
Let’s take a closer look at those iconic Christmas symbols, starting with the Christmas tree:
The Christmas Tree
Because evergreens were still green during winter where everything else is dormant (visually dead), evergreen trees embodied the life of the forest, the country, and reminded the people light would return. Vikings would display the still-green tree during the Yule festivities and often decorate it with statues of gods, food and bright colored clothes, in an attempt to appease the spirit of the land so it would return to green again.
The Christmas wreath
The Yule wreath was not the gentrified home-décor accessory it is today. A Viking Yule wreath was a giant wheel that would be set on fire and rolled down a hill, to wish for the return of the sun. Depending on geography, this would be a literal appeal, as in certain parts of Scandinavia the sun literally does not rise for several weeks in winter. How intimidating this darkness must have been!
A chocolate Yule log cake, Christmas 2004, from Wikimedia
The Yule log
We might only know the Yule Log as a delicious rolled cake, meant to resemble a wood log. In Viking time (and quite a bit after) the Yule celebration included a symbolic fire, the burning of large logs on the central hearth of the longhouse. The yule log symbolized the continuation of light despite darkness – thus, obviously, the bigger the better. The Yule log was meant to burn for days throughout the Yule celebration, and was often made of oak and draped with evergreens like holly and fir. The log could be carved with runes to wish for protection of the gods and a piece of the log could be saved to start the house fire in the new year, to protect the house and household.
A straw Yule goat ornament from Poland, Wikimedia
The Yule Goat
A lesser known custom of Scandinavian Yule is the Yule Goat. In modern tradition it is often artfully crafted from sheaves of wheat and makes a perfect decoration for the Yule tree. In the Viking Yule the Yule Goat was rather important and personified the pair of goats belonging to Thor, god of thunder and lightning. The harnessed goats pulled Thor’s chariot through the sky, making the sound of thunder in their wake. Another incarnation of the Yule Goat tradition sounds more like Halloween meeting Christmas: young men would wear goat skins and go from house to house, singing. In return, the goat-men would be rewarded with food and drink.
The Christmas Ham
During the Yule celebrations various plants and animals were sacrificed to pay tribute to the gods. The sacrifice and eating of a boar to appease Frey, who together with his sister Freya symbolized fertility, is thought to have inspired the traditional Christmas Ham.
Santa and Odin – Christmas and Yule; from Sons of Vikings
Old Man Winter
Although the modern incarnation Santa Claus has more in common with the Dutch winter celebration Saint Nicolas, both seem to harken back to the Scandinavian Old Man Winter. In Norse tradition the gods frequently came down from Asgard to fraternize with the locals, mostly in disguise. Thus, Vikings always welcomed Old Man Winter – a dressed up local, or perhaps not? – into their home when he visited and he would join them in their feast. Many would think, or perhaps hope, the Yule Old Man really was Odin in disguise, traveling around wearing a hooded cloak, riding around on his majestic white horse Slepnir.
Mistletoe
Scandinavian mythology tells the story of Frigga, the mother of the slain Baldr. Thought to be the most beautiful and blessed of the gods, Baldr was protected by a spell against all weapons. In a devious scheme orchestrated by Loki, he was killed by a branch of mistletoe. Frigga resurrected her son Baldr when her tears over his demise stained the then-red berries of the mistletoe white; her tears providing the “kiss of life.”
Recently, the theory has been put forth that Christianity was relatively assimilated by Scandinavian culture as the story of Christ’s resurrection and that of Baldr, the beautiful and blessed son of the All-Father, was so much alike.
Halloween and Christmas are two of my favorite family traditions of the year. I think it is wonderful our modern society, often so distanced from our agricultural roots, still celebrates the bounty of the harvest, the shortest day, the end of yet another growing season. I enjoy the traditions’ ancient roots, and the deep connections between different cultures. Even our languages are connected: in Old Norse, the Yule festival was known as “Jól,” with variations. Etymologists surmise the English word “jolly,” meaning festive, has its roots in the Norse word “Jól!”
Therefore: Jolly Holidays, to you and yours!
10 Monday Dec 2018
Posted in Arts & Sciences, Æthelmearc History, Costuming, Fiber Arts, Royalty
Tags
Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Royal warddrobe, Rus, Russian, Slavic, Viking
By Elska á Fjárfelli, OL
Take a look behind the scenes into the development and production of the Royalty Wardrobe for the summer reign of Duke Sven Gunnarsson and Duchess Siobhán inghean uí Liatháin of the Sylvan Kindom of Æthelmearc, AS 52 to 53 (photos provided by the Royalty).
Want more? Check out our collaboration in detail in The Research behind the Wardrobe, awash with illustrations and resources, and available to download here.
Our Challenge:
By Royal Decree, create three wardrobes which would be plausible in 950 to 1050 AD based on Norse culture and cultures with which the Norse would have been in contact; with minimal Kingdom heraldry. Additionally, for Pennsic Opening Ceremonies, one outfit which emphasized Kingdom heraldry within an overall Norse design.
This wardrobe was inspired by early Eastern European and Russian fashions, specifically as found in the grave field of the Volga region. As many of the typical designs and jewelry choices, like the half moon temple rings, are from a later period, the biggest challenge was to come up with a fashionable design without using the later-period flashy jewelry and elaborate gold-work embroidery.
The Wardrobe Team:
His & Her Garments – medium-weight linen, with silk fabric accents
Her belt – wool tablet weave
Her veil – lightweight linen, bronze spangles
Her belt & neckline – silk fingerloop braids, cowry shells, bronze bells, and spangles
Her headband – silk and gold thread brocade, with a linen band and spangles
His kaftan chest embellishments – silk & gold thread tablet weave
His collar – silk and gold thread on silk fabric
His buttons – reproduction pewter Gnezdova buttons
His belt & pouch – belt and tarsoley set from 10th century Birka
Both – a set of Slavic design knives.
Both – 10th century embroidered turnshoes
Research
Even though heraldic imagery is not typically found in Norse context, as our Royalty would be presiding over Opening Ceremonies at Pennsic we felt that a little Kingdom pride would not be misplaced. To stay within the spirit of the age, the heraldry is artfully hidden within the patterns of the block prints. Her under tunic is carefully pleated around the neckline for that extra sumptuous look.
The Wardrobe Team:
His & Her Garments – medium-weight linen
His & Her block printing
Her heraldic brocaded apron dress trim in red and white silk
Her pleated under tunic
His belt & pouch – belt and tarsoley set from 10th century Birka
Research
Unlike the Slavic outfit where all the cool accessories are from after our chosen timeframe, in the case of Anglo-Saxon fashion the well-known designs and jewelry — like the shoulder fibulae — are from a much earlier period. To emulate the (ecclesial) opulence of the period this outfit depended heavily on copious metal brocade and embroidery.
The Wardrobe Team:
His & Her Garments – medium-weight linen
His & Her silk and metal brocade trim
Her woolen belt with carved bone buckle and end piece (not worn in picture)
His belt & pouch – belt and tarsoley set from 10th century Birka
Research
Everyone likes block-printed fabrics and we are no different. This design was ideal to highlight the amazing art of one of our artisans, and also to provide the Royalty with single-layer summer weight Pennsic garments.
The Wardrobe Team:
His & Her tunic and dress
His & Her klappenrock and Birka coats
His & Her block-printed fabrics
Her glass bead and embossed silver necklace (not shown in photograph)
His kaftan posaments (not shown in photograph)
His belt & pouch – belt and tarsoley set from 10th century Birka
Sourcing period correct ball buttons (not shown in photograph)
Research
While the connection between embroidery and Norse culture is not quite as clear as one might hope — with the embroidery remnants more likely being an Anglo-Saxon textile pillaged from a British Isles monastery — the highly embroidered museum-recreated Mammen outfit is too good to be true and makes for an excellent Royal wardrobe.
The Wardrobe Team:
His & Her garments
His & Her Embroidery
His & Her weaving of trim
Her embroidered turnshoes
His block printing of Large Faces
His belt & pouch – belt and tarsoley set from 10th century Birka
Research
The Royal Wardrobes Project was set up in the less-traditional way of utilizing up-and-coming artisans from around the Kingdom. The Wardrobes Project was created as a collaboration between many different artists whom were part of both the initial design discussions and the practical constructions as much as they desired. The Project is set up to be a learning opportunity for all involved and to be a source of additional information, to take home and use for our own personal wardrobe projects. And I hope it will inspire you, too!
09 Sunday Dec 2018
Posted in Arts & Sciences, Camping, Costuming, Fiber Arts
By Elska a Fjarfelli, OL
Archeon is an open-air living history museum in the Netherlands that hosts a yearly Viking reenactment event, supplementing with re-enactors for additional staff.
I’ve had my eye on this Dutch Viking Week for a few years now, and finally this was the year we could combine a visit to family with a visit to the reenacting event. My sister has attended and vended at this weekend for many years — apparently, she’d waited until we emigrated to the United States before doing the cool stuff. Or perhaps this interest in our early history is from a more recent mindset.
Neither Hrolfr nor I recall any of these events when we still lived there; it wasn’t until we moved to Florida that we encountered our first medieval faire. (And boy, did we like it!) Upon checking, I learned that Archeon is only 25 years old, and since we emigrated 20 years ago I believe the Viking Weekend and similar events really are from after our time.
Arial shot from Archeon, showing the scale of the open-air museum. We were camped in between the two white & red Roman buildings out back.
According to the Archeon website:
“Archeon facilitates the meeting between a diverse audience and the history of the Netherlands in an informative and interactive way. The aim is of providing a nice, fun and above all instructive experience in an as authentic as possible (pre-) historical environment. Archeon manages and presents authentic reconstructions of 43 buildings, several monuments and tools based on archaeological excavations from the Mesolithic (6,000 BC) to the Middle Ages (1,350 AD), to ensure the material and intangible heritage of the Netherlands now and in the future. Expansion of existing knowledge is guaranteed through research and experimental archeology. (pre) Historically dressed Archeo-tolks translate the past into the present in an interactive way, with the primary goals of education and historical fun.”
Hrolfr talking with a Bronze Age interpreter weaving on a warp-weighted loom. She lamented the fact that at her point in time broken diamond twill had not been invented yet, so she was stuck creating plain weave. Each interpreter wore a tunic made of hand-spun hand-woven fabric in natural brown wool, which looked awesome.
Each year, the Viking Week is set up smack in the middle of all these exhibits, infiltrating most of the open spaces of the Early Iron Age, the Roman Era, and the Middle Ages.
During the Viking Week, the regular living history interpreters are present and accounted for, as well as a dozen or so groups of Viking households. The Vikings are expected to adhere to the living history mission of Archeon, and each Viking re-enactor is expected to add, in some way or another, to the overall experience of the paying guest. Because, lest we forget, this is a museum, not an event and its aim is for happy guests, not happy re-enactors. No matter how much fun it is to dress up and talk Viking, it is done so in a job situation and everyone is on the job from 10 am to 5 pm.
Obviously, since we were flying in, we had to bring in our garb by plane and chose not to bring our best outfits as I was worried they would get damaged or lost. My sister had asked permission for us to be part of her business, explaining the situation, and we had been given some leeway regarding clothes, especially shoes.
We were given a 12-page document on what a re-enactor can and can not do to ensure an immersive experience for the guests.
Vikings invading a 1350’s medieval town.
I asked my sister beforehand how period-correct the outfits needed to be. Good enough for Ice Dragon? Or enough to pass at Pennsic? Guess I should not have worried so much.
For instance, starting re-enactors may wear wood clogs at their first (but only their first) event. After that, they are expected to buy historically accurate shoes. But many of the shoes worn by experienced re-enactors were not actually period-correct; they were fantasy Ren-Faire shoes, in natural leather! Fabric seam treatments and minor embroidery was fine although not used nearly as often as in a SCAdian context. And as long as it looked like a tunic or an apron dress, it was fine. What I did notice was that the fabrics used were much nicer than I am used to and there was a LOT of diamond twill… what was up with that?
A sea of diamond twill, it was really hard to contain myself…
Turns out most of the participants get their fabric from the same vendor, who was at Archeon as well. My sister and I went to visit him as it was my goal to bring back a suitcase of fabric this trip. Unfortunately, his fabrics averaged €25 per meter. We had a nice chat, answered many questions about the American SCA, and shared some resources.
What I found noteworthy was that this vendor, who heavily influences the look of the Viking re-enactors he encounters and had much to say about how period-correct his inventory was, based his information on a bibliography barely worthy of Fleur-level research. His customers took him at his word, and were not enticed or even expected to do their own research.
This is something I found across the board with this type of living history re-enactment: the re-enactors would look to the people in charge for what to do and what to use. Research was not encouraged — I mean, anyone could research whatever they wanted, but if it did not adhere to the accepted view (the 12-page book) then it could not be displayed at events. The result of this was that most of the re-enactors looked very similar to each other, and that a number of outfits were based on outdated research. The abundance of solid diamond twill fabric available and the enthusiastic recommendation of the vendor had resulted in an over-abundance of the population walking around in this, in-period but quite scarce fabric type. Nearly all of the diamond twill was two-tone to boot — and the re-enactors could clearly afford to buy it. Apparently, European re-enacting is for the well-to-do.
A German family selling beads and stuff – a way to engage his kids during the “long, boring week” and help them earn Star Wars Lego. At one point, the father did this professionally; now, it is more of a keep-the-kids-busy endeavor.
Curiously, it was the vendors who played with researching objects and techniques. Some vendors, like the fabric vendor, are professionals who travel the circuit. Others would play a merchant for the weekend (maybe that’s how they afforded the garb). This undoubtedly comes from the request that re-enactors have a role to play during the week and many choose the role of merchant. This request is part of the jurying process: the more you have to bring to the event, the more likely you are invited to participate and invited to return.
There were also those demonstrating skills and doing chores; I loved the teenager showing off his dozen built-from-scratch pitch-glued wood arrows, his father whittling small wood saga figures, and camp mates cooking lunch for their Households. During opening hours, visitors could and would ask anything and everything from any person in garb, and each Viking and otherwise was expected to engage positively and deliver some sort of historical spiel pertaining their chore, craft, or wares. The wares for sale were of an odd dichotomy — partially geared towards fellow re-enactors and often of high quality and historical replication, and partially towards tourists.
Viking carving demo.
Something I found a bit disappointing was that there was not much mingling between the groups and households. It seemed like the re-enactors came to the event to play with their household, instead of coming as a household to play at the event. I can see how less out-going personalities would easily get lost without a household, if they would even get into the event.
There was not much socialization even during the communal breakfasts. I had hopes for the communal Saturday dinner (not a feast, it was catered) but instead of the “mandatory” socialization after-dinner can become, the organizers hosted a trivia contest. This was fun in its own way, but by the time it was over I was ready for bed. Of course, me being me, I did get to know some people as it turned out the wife of the fabric vendor did early medieval Baltic, which I surprised her with by recognizing, and the two of use had a great time talking costume after that. Hrolfr had a similar experience — he struck a chord with another lady and the two of them had some great talks about weaving during the weekend.
Hrolfr doing his tablet weaving demo and chatting about weaving. He hooked the warp between the A-frame and his belt, which worked very well.
When I brought up this almost-surly attitude to my sister, she admitted that she was considering starting her own household for the company although she did not find the attitude all that unusual. Since most of the re-enactors were from all over the place, mostly Eastern Europe with some Belgians and Germans mixed in, I could not really lay blame to my Dutch culture. English was not even the common language between many households; often, it was German.
And then it dawned on me: I had gotten used to how easily Americans associate! I am Americanizing. It only took 20 years.
Simon freezing in the Roman Bath, with potted olive trees and some random Vikings in the background.
When asked, the single thing our 10-year-old liked the most was the playground. And let me tell you, the Dutch know how to do playgrounds. It was made of wood, it was huge, it was tall, and had many daring opportunities. I took a look and thought, that does not look safe at all… but then tried to channel my Dutch mom and walked away. He had the best time of his life and had ample playing opportunities with kids speaking many languages, some wearing garb, many not. But since I never thought of taking a picture of the playground while at an open-air museum, I asked him what his second favorite was. And those were the Roman Baths. Where he was allowed to swim, after hours and without a lifeguard. He loved the ambiance, and the responsibility. Only wished it was a little warmer…
The Baltic outfit. That shawl alone was to die for… She commissioned the shawl from an experienced weaver who took three months of weaving eight hours a day to make it. Each wire circlet and tube is woven in one by one.
Did we like the event? Absolutely! And it also made me appreciate the uniqueness of what makes the SCA so valuable. Not only is it much more inclusive — to the less well-off, to the less social — it also actively encourages independent study of the Middle Ages, often resulting in academic-level experimental archaeology.
Vice versa, the SCA could take some pointers from re-enacting and aspire to raise the bar at least a little bit. This visit showed me that there definitely are cultural and social differences between Americans and Europeans, let alone between period-specific re-enactors and the SCA. The Viking period-correct (-ish) camps, populated by Vikings — sans eye glasses, cell phones, and sneakers — doing Viking-y things was quite the immersive experience. It makes some adjustments very much worth it and I am totally ready for more.
What’s up next? How about two weeks as a Viking interpreter at Birka, Sweden… one can dream, right?
After-hours sharing of stories around the fire with family (with Roman graffiti in the background).
To read more of Elska’s writing, see her blog here.
22 Friday Jun 2018
Posted in Arts & Sciences, Interviews
By Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina (Chris Adler-France)
Have you ever dreamed of living and studying overseas? Of deep-diving into an aspect of the art or culture that burns a fire in your belly?
Two Æthelmearcians are about to make their dream come true.
Baroness Orianna Fridrikskona and Baron Fridrikr Tomasson av Knusslig Hamn, longtime residents of Thescorre, teachers, autocrats, and artisans who stepped down last year after a term co-serving as the Kingdom’s Ministers of Arts & Sciences, are about to study in Scandinavia for the next two years and took time out of their busy last-minute preparations to talk to The Gazette about their plans.
Q: Please tell us about what you will be doing for the next two years?
A: Starting in mid-July, we will be living in Iceland (and elsewhere for a bit) while we return to university. Fridrikr will be pursuing a Masters program in “Viking and Medieval Norse Studies,” while Orianna will be pursuing a one-year Certificate program in “Icelandic as a Second Language for Practical Purposes.”
Q: Why did you decide to do this?
A: (Fridrikr) I heard about this program while I was doing a four-day weekend workshop in Old Norse at Worcester Polytech about three years ago. It sounded like a great program to extend my personal work in Old Norse poetry. We looked into it and set ourselves the goal of doing this after we had both retired. It has become our Great Adventure.
(Orianna) When he started talking about it, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun and definitely something to do while we had the ability to do it. Iceland is a very interesting country and I think having the opportunity to live there and learn more is pretty neat.
However, I told him there were two conditions:
Fridrikr mentioned the Icelandic language class as an option for me to increase my ability to be accepted to live in Iceland with him, plus since we will be there it makes sense to learn the language.
Q: Please explain your degree programs, what kind of classes you’ll be doing, and what you hope the end result will be?
A: (Fridrikr) My program is an intensive 120-credit-hour program taken over two years. It culminates in a Master of Arts degree. The first year is spent in Reykjavik at the University of Iceland, taking basic graduate level courses and electives. I’m not sure yet, but I’m reasonably certain that there will be at least one semester-long project the first year, second term.
The second year is devoted to research, seminars, and thesis writing. First semester of the second year will be “study abroad” in either Oslo, Copenhagen, or Aarhus, Denmark. The location is decided based on my research interests. I believe that I’ll end up in Copenhagen, as I want to work in saga studies and the Arnamagnaen Institute’s sister collection is there. Oslo is the second choice (history). Aarhus is more geared toward archaeological studies. The end result will be an MA from the University of Iceland.
(Orianna) My program is a one-year certificate that covers all of the usual classes you need to take to learn a language. I am a little nervous about it since Icelandic is a difficult language and the last time I took classes in another language was in high school. But hopefully immersing myself in the language in the country of origin will help.
Q: Tell us about Reykjavik?
A: We’ve already been there a couple of times on vacation. It’s a smallish city (125,000 people) and the central area, where we’re living, can be walked across in about 20 minutes. The public transportation system is all bus and is excellent. We’ll be living near the harbor, in a fully furnished apartment that is about 700 square feet. Small, cozy, and excellent.
Q: How long did it take to prepare for this and what steps did you need to do?
A: A lifetime? Or, more realistically, about two years of talking about it and about a year of really doing it.
The three big steps were:
These days, about a month out, we’re getting packing lists done, packing boxes to ship over, getting clothes and other necessities together. It’s starting to get hectic now.
Q: What was the most challenging step? What was easiest? What surprised you?
A: (Fridrikr) For me, the most challenging step has been the application to the university. Creating my Curriculum Vitae (an academic version of a résumé), gathering copies of diplomas, transcripts, and writing a “statement of intent” detailing why you are applying, why you are a good fit for the program, what you will do with your career after you graduate, and so on.
The easiest step was medical insurance (fill out a very general form and give them money and you have insurance for six months. After that, you’re on the public insurance system).
A surprise (though it shouldn’t be) is the slowness of the Visa/Residency Permit system. We applied in May (passport, photos, criminal background check, “proof” of ability to support yourself) and have heard virtually nothing since. We’re hoping to hear before we leave, but probably won’t.
(Orianna) I think for me it is the practical — where will we live, what about money, shopping, getting around the city, health insurance, medications. I suspect there are a few things we haven’t yet thought of but if we got this far with the process, we can figure out the rest as needed.
Q: How did you find a place to live? What resources helped you accomplish this?
A: We were lucky. Finding housing is the hardest part of living in Reykjavik. Many students end up “camping out” for a few weeks after they arrive. I posted on Facebook, describing us and our need (retired couple, students, looking for a furnished apartment). A fellow saw my post, put us in touch with his cousin who lives in New Hampshire and has a furnished apartment in Iceland. He was looking for folks to occupy it for a year. We got in touch and, voila!, we have an apartment. Really, it was all by networking!
Q: What will happen to your home and pets here in the US while you are living in Iceland?
A: Our daughter, Brigid; her husband, Justin; their two cats; and their baby (expected in September) will live in our house while we’re gone. Our cats will learn to deal, we hope.
It is a good deal for them since they will only be covering the general utilities while we will cover the homeowner’s insurance and taxes. Plus, we are downsizing a car since there is no reason to have two cars sitting idle in the garage while we are gone.
We do plan to be back in the United States off and on during the next two years. Orianna will be back in September for the grandbaby birth, plus we hope to return home for Christmas. There will likely a short trip next summer while we plan the transition from Iceland to either Denmark or Norway.
Q: Do you have any plans to attending any local SCA events or seeing any specific tourist attractions while you are there, and if so, what are they?
A: We’d like to go back to some favorite places while we’re there, especially Reykholt (the home of Snorri Sturluson), and see parts of the island we haven’t been to yet. While we’re in Europe, I’m certain we’ll do a lot of touring about. The local group in Iceland is very small, and we’re hoping to get to know them a bit. The amount of free time we’ll have is uncertain, but it will be filled with adventure!
It would be fun to attend a Drachenwald event — especially the ones they hold in real castles! Their Majesties Sven and Siobhan have offered to provide any advice or help we might need in connecting with the folks in Drachenwald.
Plus, there are some places in Scandinavia and The Netherlands that we would like to visit given our proximity while we are there.
Q: Do you expect to use these degrees for anything specific when you return to the US, or are you pursuing them simply as part of lifelong learning?
A: (Fridrikr) If I’m good enough, have the health and treasure left, and can find a fit, I’d like to get a Ph.D. after I finish, maybe at Cornell or Binghamton. If not, I plan to continue my personal studies for as long as I can.
(Orianna) I am not sure what I will do with my language classes, but maybe it will be useful in clothing or general historical research. Who knows?
Q: What advice would you give to a SCAdian who wants to study overseas for a year or more?
A: Have a plan, stick with it, be ready for some hefty sticker shock, but go for it! Whether you succeed or not, you’ll get to know wonderful people and you’ll find doors opening up for you that you could never have imagined.
You can follow their ongoing journey at their blog here.
31 Thursday Aug 2017
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Was your Pennsic schedule so jam-packed that you couldn’t get to as many classes as you’d have liked?
If so, set aside Saturday, September 23, and plan to attend the Dark Ages Skóla, hosted by the Dominion of Myrkfaelinn.
What have we planned thus far?
Current class list is:
And more classes keep being added!
Several classes, including the Skjoldehamn Hood and Dark Ages Embroidery, the Thorsberg Trousers: Make-and-Take, and the Viking Treasure Necklaces and Women’s Bling are “make and take” classes; if you want to learn to make your own creations while enjoying experienced guidance, now is your change!
To help our teachers coming from close, and afar, Myrkfaelinn will host a silent auction to split between the Dominions’ coffers and a Teacher’s Travel Fund.
The Dark Ages Skóla will be hosting an A&S Display and Youth A&S Tournament. With only three more weeks to go, it is time to shrug off that Pennsic glow and start on your next best project!
The Youth A&S Tournament will be held in the common room. Please drop off your entry and documentation in the morning for display during the day. At the end of the afternoon, before the Silent Auction, please join your entry to show & tell the judges, followed by a most anticipated pick of (donated) gift.
The Dark Age A&S Display will also be held in the common room. Please drop off and display in the morning, to pick up at closing. We would love to see your Dark Age inspired (work-in-progress) projects (half page documentation appreciated), but honestly, anything goes!
Additional information about the event can be found on the Kingdom website as well as on Facebook.
The event is at a new event site: First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, 315 N. Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Hope to see you there! THL Elska á Fjárfelli
11 Wednesday Jan 2017
Posted in Arts & Sciences, Esoterica
By Elska á Fjárfella of the Dominion of Myrkfaelinn, 2016
As part of my Viking persona the need for some sort of magical amulet devolved into another research project. I had heard about thunderstones, and straightforward that I am, assumed those would have been made out of fulgurites, which form of melted sand from lightning striking the beach. But just to be on the safe side I looked into these fascinating talismans and found that throughout history many, many objects had been perceived as thunderstones. For a very long time thunderstones were believed to be the physical remains of thunderbolts or lightning strikes endowed with the power to avert evil or bad luck, and to protect the house, property and family against lightning and by association, storms and fire. In the words of 17th century Adrianus Tollius “Thunderstones are generated in the sky by a fulgureous exhalation (whatever that may look like) conglobed in a cloud by a circumfixed humour, and baked hard, as it were, by intense heat”…
As much as that almost seems plausible, what did they expect those exhalations to look like? Most thunderstones seem to fall into one of three categories: they look like weapons 
(the sky gods used lightning as a weapon, like Thor’s hammer Mjöllnir), they are associated with thunderstorms (for instance resemble hail) or have lightning like properties (spark fire). Preferably they are found in conjunction with lightning storms and lightning strikes: objects that were not there before the storm but were there after – washed out of the ground by heavy rains but attributed to having fallen out of the sky; like stone objects with a peculiar shape, with holes in them or sharp ends, polished, chipped (proof they fell from the sky), perfectly round, smooth, with a projectile shape, like pointed, arrow like etc…
Thunderstone amulets could be categorized in three classes: the minerals, the fossils and the ceraunia. Examples of minerals would be those unusually shaped stones; fire sparking stones like flint, iron pyr
ite and bog iron; fulgurites (found by digging out the lightning strike site, looking for the magical core) and meteorites, especially those with remaglypts which do kinda look like fingerprints of the gods! Only a couple types of fossils are considered thunderstones: sharks teeth and Belemnites (squid) resemble weapons, and Echinoids are rather round with a, to us, familiar five pointed pattern. But the most interesting are the ceraunia. These stone age tools were crafted by early man, but as this knowledge had been forgotten, the sometimes abundantly found stone weapons became part of thunderstone myths instead!
In archaeology, thunderstones are most often found in grave finds and in house foundations. This is interpreted as a wish to protect the dead and help them into the afterlife, and to protect the house and family from lightning strikes and fire. As thunderstones were seen as the manifestation of lightning strike cores, and throughout history the myth (hope) of “lightning/disaster never strikes twice” prevailed (even today, as shown by the Norse disaster protection rune on our modern day ambulances), having a thunderstone in your house or on your person would, therefore, exempt you from being hit.
The connection between thunderstones and burial could come from their connection to faeries. The Fae were thought to be the inhabitants of a mystical, enchanted world, with plenty of honey and wine, feasts, playing and drinking, and where you’d never grow old (sound familiar?). The Celts believed that this Otherworld could be accessed from the real world through Neolithic and bronze age barrows – which would have stone tools – and thought that Otherworld was the land of the dead. Placing echinoids (called faerie loaves) or stone tools in burial sites would help guide the spirits of the dead on their journey into Otherworld, or the afterlife.
In Norse mythology Thor’s hammer Mjöllnir was thought to have the power to call up the dead to renewed life and placing the sign of Mjöllnir, either as a fossil echinoid or a stone axe, in burials can therefore be seen as an act of symbolizing rebirth after death. Thunderstones were believed to fall from the sky during thunderstorms; missiles hurled by Thor to keep the wandering trolls under control. If a thunderstone struck a troll careless enough to be out in a thunderstorm, instant death followed. If it were not for Thor’s missiles, the Norse believed, the trolls would have spread across the earth like a plague! Thor’s hammer Mjöllnir also represents the lightning as when thrown it magically returns to Thor’s hand, just as natural lightning is seen to strike the earth (leader) and then fly black to the skies (return stroke).
There is also a connection between thunderstones and the use of iron. Revered for its transformative qualities by way of smelting and smithing, the transformation of iron into a new state could be regarded as a parallel for the path of the body and soul through burial rituals and might seem as a good catalyst to assist the dead to do the same, similar to the believe of stone tools and echinoids. According to Norse belief, placing objects of iron in and around the grave site is a most reliable way of ensuring the dead stayed bound to their proper place (the Norse draugr are zombies, apparently risen from the grave due to lack of iron, or thunderstones!). Iron is also used to wire wrap thunderstones to wear as amulets as iron would trap the magic and keep the thunderstone ‘loaded’. Popular myth also mentions faeries can be deterred/trapped or hurt/killed with pure iron, which concurs with thunderstone myths.
Apparently thunderstones were seen as pretty darn useful: tools & echinoids would be included in graves to protect souls, guide travel into the afterlife and keep evil spirits away. They would be placed inside walls, under the floor or the threshold or kept under eaves or staircases of buildings to protect the owner and his house from being struck by lightning, fire and storms, and would be worn to avoid dying at sea, losing in battles, and to guarantee good sleep at night.
Echinoids placed on shelves in the pantry would keep the milk fresh and cause plenty of cream, and were hung around the necks of cattle. They guaranteed good breeding luck and good hunting & fishing luck. And thunderstone echinoids made the beer ferment.
Who finds a thunderstone should not give it away, otherwise he loses his luck. In Norse mythology they were thought to keep trolls and witches (or general evil) away, and bring good luck. They were also thought to protect the unchristened child against being “changed”. And thunderstones were considered to be good protection against elfish malice, the evil eye and especially, the Devil.
Thunderstone echinoids were even assimilated into Christian culture as a protection sign against evil. In some parts of England, openings like doors and windows on the north side of a church, which in medieval and earlier times was known as the Devil’s side of the church, would be rimmed with echinoids (called shepherd’s crowns), all with the five pointed side visible. Echinoids naturally display a five pointed star, the forbearer of the pentagram, which became symbolic of the power of good over evil!
To keep up with demand, objects that looked like magical items became regarded as similar, and were believed to take on the same magic, which is called the Theory of Similars (or Sympathetic Magic). This explains the prevalence of manmade Thor’s hammer amulets in later period, from very crude (as part of iron amulet rings which were believed to keep the spirits of the dead confined to the grave) to elaborate jewelry pieces, all used as protection amulets and talismans. And how the five pointed star of the echinoid likely evolved into the powerful symbol the pentagram, which took with it several of the thunderstones protections, including safeguarding brewing (Scandinavian), protection against witches & general evil and especially protection against the Devil.
Interestingly, the word “urchin” for modern sea urchins likely came by way of thunderstones: fossil echinoids, often called fairy loaves, were associated with the Fae, and another word for these creatures was “urchin”. And ironically, it took until contact with Native American Indians in the 16th CE, who at that time still used stone tool technology, for the European scientific community to realize ceraunia were actually stone tools made by an earlier kind of people!
Over time, the powerful thunderstones devolved into no more than talismans, or lucky stones. But remember, next time you find a stone with a hole in, and you just have to put it in your pocket – you’re just following in your ancestors footsteps and there is nothing superstitious about that! Or is there…
The inspiration amulet, my amulet and part of my Thunderstone Amulet display at the Yule Peace Tournament this December. In the foreground is a striker (to demonstrate how well flint sparks fire) and a piece of naturally found flint from England (shaped like a tube as the flint formed in a prehistoric animal seafloor tunnel). Thank you, Angelika for loaning the striker and the replica stone tools, Edward Harbinger for the real stone arrow point and Artemius of Delftwood for the belemnite. The rest of the collection comes from my personal stash collected during years of wandering all over the place picking up whatever looked unusual!
Bibliography
McGinnis M., Meghan P. Ring Out Your Dead. Stockholm: Stockholms Universitet, 2016
http://www.archaeology.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.288568.1467018819!/menu/standard/file/Mattsson_McGinnis_Meghan_Paalz-Ring_Out_Your_Dead.pdf Fig a & b are attributed to this text.
Johanson, Kristiina. The Changing Meaning of ‘Thunderbolts’.
https://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol42/johanson.pdf
McNamara, Kenneth J. Shepherds’ crowns, fairy loaves and thunderstones: the mythology of fossil echinoids in England. Myth and Geology. London: Geological Society, 2007. Fig 4 & 8 are attributed to this text.
http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/273/1/279.refs?cited-by=yes&legid=specpubgsl;273/1/279
Report of the U.S National Museum, Part I. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899.
Ravilious, K. “Thor’s Hammer” Found in Viking Graves. National Geographic News, 2010.
Seigfried, Karl E. H. The Norse Mythology Blog. 2010
http://www.norsemyth.org/2010/04/mighty-thor-part-one.html
Dian-stanes and “Thunderstones”. Orkneyjar, the heritage of the Orkney Islands.
http://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/dian.htm
Sibley, Jane The Divine Thunderbolt USA: XLibris, 2009
Extant piece found at http://www.geolsba.dk/echinoids/dan/Galerites-vikingesmykke.html
See Elska’s blog here.
22 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in Esoterica, Gaming & Fun
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Enjoy this account of a Viking ship that visited our lands, submitted by Lord Snaebjorn inn Danski, of the Barony of Delftwood:
In the final weekend of August, the shores of our fair Barony of Delftwood were subject to a surprising sight, one of the fierce dragonships of Viking raiders at our shore! Though we are used to seeing Viking warriors and tradesmen amongst us, never before has such a mighty vessel as the Draken Harald Harfagre been seen in our waters.
Sunday, August 28th, found many of the citizens of Delftwood heading to the pier in Oswego, NY, to look upon and take a tour of this long traveled craft. Joined there by friends from Thescorre, Coppertree and other groups throughout the northern lands of our fair kingdom. Many, if not most, even turned out in garb for the occasion and there are rumors of a betrothal as the ship was exited as well.
An impressive sight it was, as the magnificent craft was 114 feet in length from her fierce dragon headed prow to the very stern of the ship, and 26 feet wide at her widest point. Round shields adorned her rails, and the top of her mast stood nearly 80 feet. Built in the same manner as those ancient ships which once sailed the seas, she was even finished with a mixture of linseed oil and pine tar. Christian, the ship’s engineer and one of its longest serving crew members, told how the ship had been built as faithfully to the originals as possible with the exception of using saws to cut the planks instead of axes, and the careful hiding of a few modern additions such as an engine below deck for emergency use or, as would later become necessary during its trip through the New York canal system, when the sails could not be used.
The Draken Harald Harfagre (Har-fog-ra for those who may have trouble pronouncing such names) was built and launched 4 years ago by a private owner who wished to test the seaworthiness of the famed Viking longships. For two years it sailed along the Norwegian coasts before following the Viking raiding and trade routes to Ireland. It was then decided to recreate the famed voyage of Leif Ericsson from Greenland to North America.
Launched on April 26th from its homeport in Norway, the Harfagre followed the traditional routes westward to Greenland and from there followed what is believed to be the same route Leif Ericsson would have taken. On June 1st the ship reached Saint Anthony, Newfoundland, and proceeded up to land in L’Anse aux Meadows, just as Leif Ericcson had over one thousand years ago.
Since then it has traveled down into the Great Lakes and competed in a series of races and port visits as part of the Tall Ships Challenge. She then headed down through the canal system to Albany, where she once more had her mast set and her sails opened to sail down the Hudson to Kingston and New York City. She is now heading to her winter berth in the lands of our Eastern cousins within the Barony Beyond the Mountain (Mystic, CT).
It was during this trip down the canals though that the Draken Harald Harfagre met another ship on its own journey to test the capabilities of its ancestors. On the shores of Coppertree’s Sylvan Beach, the fierce dragonship docked side by side with the Hokule’a, a replica catamaran built in the style of those ships used to settle the Pacific islands such as Samoa or Hawaii. The Hokule’a, is a much smaller craft and contains no engine at all, but is nearing completion of an even more impressive journey.
Launched in May of 2014, the Hokule’a has been circumnavigating the globe for over 2 years. Sailing west from Hawaii it has made stops in Tahiti, Samoa, New Zealand, Bali, Mozambique, South Africa, Brazil, and the Virgin Islands. It has sailed the entire eastern seaboard and is now heading up through the canals to the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway before it turned around and headed back down through the canals and began the final leg of its journey down through the Gulf Coast and Panama Canal to get back home.
For further information about either of these ships, their routes, or their missions you can visit their websites; www.drakenexpeditionamerica.com and www.hokulea.com
Lady Ghita Rinaldi de Amici and Bella de Amici, of Delftwood
Photos courtesy of Lord Snaebjorn
